DAN NELSON: 'I'm Coming From A Younger, Angrier, Meaner, Hungrier Version Of ANTHRAX'

July 15, 2009

FuryRocks recently conducted an interview with ANTHRAX singer Dan Nelson. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

FuryRocks: What fans are you most likely to please? The John Bush fans or the Joey Belladonna fans?

Nelson: Hopefully all of them. Plus, I'm coming from a younger, angrier, meaner, hungrier version of ANTHRAX, so I think we're going to appeal to a younger audience than before too. As well as the old-school fans, who are the best fans there are. I think when everybody hears the new album, it's going to impress them. Or when they see us live. Last night we played in The Hague, it was out of control, it was off the hook. Anybody who's coming to an ANTHRAX show now is definitely going to leave as a fan if they weren't before.

FuryRocks: How big was your input for the new album?

Nelson: I'd like to think very big. They didn't have many songs written when I first came in and they had no lyrics or vocal melodies written at all. We all collaborated together on the album. So I'd like to think and I hope that a large part was me. I feel it was, because I definitely left my heart on the tracks. Charlie (Benante; drums) writes most of the music, as far as guitar riffs and the arrangements. The lyrics, for the most part, are written by myself and Scott (Ian; guitar) and most of the melodies were me and Frankie (Bello; bass). That's pretty much the way it went, with all of us giving a riff here or there.

FuryRocks: Wasn't the step of joining a band like ANTHRAX a big one?

Nelson: I don't know. Since I was a kid, I've always liked performing. That kind of thing has just always been in my blood. I just love being on stage, I love connecting with the audience. I breathe better when I'm on stage than I do now. In normal life, I'm just waiting for my next chance to get up on stage. That's when I breathe easiest. So it really didn't faze me. And I'm not saying that to sound cocky or anything, I just feel like this is what I was born to do and any chance I get to do it, I'm going to take full advantage of that. I'm just blessed now to be able to do it for a wider audience.'

FuryRocks: What does "Worship Music" sound like?

Nelson: It's definitely an ANTHRAX record. I don't think it's so different from the other records, but it's definitely the heaviest ANTHRAX, but at the same time it's very melodic. It's a very dark album. You're not going to listen to it and think, "Who is this? This isn't ANTHRAX," but at times, it's the most aggressive ANTHRAX you've ever heard, I believe. And if Charlie disagrees with me, I'll put him in a headlock right now. [Laughs]

Read the entire interview from FuryRocks.

Video footage of ANTHRAX's June 30, 2009 performance at Het Paard in Den Haag, The Netherlands can be viewed below (courtesy of "letthemetalflow").

"Fight 'em 'Til You Can't" (new song):

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